Subtle Essence I: The Encounter
by Nate Ryan
Summary: Join Nate, Richard, and Alex three freshmen looking to help, who, inevitably, find trouble!


This story takes place prior to the events of, and near the end of, Kingdom Hearts: BBS; however, the characters and their respective paths will cross eventually. Later on, all the characters you're familiar with currently will have their parts in the story. Hope you enjoy it!

Back-story: The story takes the reigns behind three, freshmen, high school students: Nate, Alex, and Richard. Thrown into the fray when their world is nearly consumed by darkness. A day starting like any other, simply going through the motions, school, eat, sleep, week-end relaxation. Their deeply ingrained routines were going to be eradicated forever when the time arose.

Alex is a Jamaican boy of a medium build who has an IQ of 133. Although reserved & shy to strangers, a much brighter side is often revealed to his friends. Alex has a strong moral code and the ability to accept responsibility when necessary. But, Alex can often find it difficult to empathize with people due to his strong moral compass, and sometimes comes off as condescending often whether it is deliberate, or not. Alex has a above average strength in heart.

Nate is a mixed individual with a Cuban father and an Irish mother who has an IQ of 127. Nate has the ability to deal with many people of many dispositions, and is capable of defusing most situations. Nate is also a competent deceiver, and is able to wiggle out of most potent situations with ease. Very shy with women and afraid to fight despite being very strong, Nate also finds it hard to accept responsibility for some of his actions, utilizing his deceptive qualities & intellect to evade confrontation. However, the majority of these situations is rare due to his genial nature. Doing his best to please people, he will occasionally resort to doing things that aren't acceptable to others, most notably Alex. Nate, unfortunately, has a below average heart strength.

Richard is a short Colombian that is fluent in Spanish who has an IQ of 125. Richard is a very charismatic & courageous individual, known for his caustic wise-cracking and mischievous behavior. Richard is also renown for attracting one crowd in particular: women. Whether it be his valor, charisma, or stature, he always finds a way to obtain a woman, even if he doesn't want one. Also possessing an unusually go way of adapting to any situation, Richard & Nate can work together to get around a particular situation. Nate will work on the fabrication of details while Richard swiftly adapts to the situation, and further pushes the story toward credible belief. In the end, while Richard is probably the first person to prank you, he would be one of your most loyal allies. Richard has an average strength heart.

* * *

Shifting between classes, the three met up. Richard, Nate, and Alex would commonly meet up on the school's commons, an elevated area in the middle of the school's cafeteria, where they would discuss their class endeavors. Richard had arrived first and Nate second.

_"Now, how in the world did you get here before me?"_

Richard chortled and while shaking Nate's hand exclaimed:

_"Oh it's quite simple really..."_

Nate folds his arm, raises his eyebrows and cuts him off saying:

_"O-oh is it? Is it really?"_

Richard paused mid-sentence, and smile as he continued:_  
_

_"Inter-dimensional travel, my dear Watson!"  
_

Nate nodded appearing legitimately astonished and said, patting Richard's shoulder:_  
_

_"Well when you stop being an ass, please, by all means, let me know!"  
_

Richard, laughing, didn't notice Alex approaching their group. Alex exchanged his hellos with Nate and slowly approached Richard who, by that moment in time, had ceased his laughter.

_"You guys are always have fun, without me. Hate you guys."_

Richard, interrupting Nate's attempts at convincing Alex otherwise, responds swiftly:

_"Yeah? Well FUCK you to!"_

Alex, giving Richard a horrifying stare runs at Richard and exclaims while doing so:

_"Alright, THAT'S IT!"_

Richard cringes as Alex pretends to mercilessly beat him, Nate wipes his face mortified by their screams. Before Nate can pry Alex off of Richard, the bell rings and they're each late for class. Fortunately, they're all going to the same place. Alex & Nate, trying to quickly make it to class is forced back by Richard.

_ "Stopppppp, I hate that lady! Walk slow with me! She can't mark us all tardy!"_

Alex continues despite hearing Richard's desperate pleas. Nate decides to walk with him and their slow speeds make them five minutes later than Alex, and the teacher is far from pleased. Upon arrival they're instantly questioned:

_"And why, are you guys late?"_

Nate, with great haste, answers:

"Oh, it was security. They held us up thinking we were going to the bathroom without a pass. I tried to tell them, but they insisted on pestering Richard. I had just gotten out of the bathroom and Richard was being held up, I told him Richard was waiting for me since he had bag due to how heavy it was."

Richard nodded in cautious approval as he, slightly worried, corresponded:

_"Y-yeah, they thought something was within the bag I was carrying."_

Unphased she answered:

_"Which security guard? Do I need to call the office?"_

Nate, beginning for his seat, responded:

_"I don't know his name, I've only been in this school for two months. Expect me to have wallet-sized pictures of each security guard with their names signed on the back? If you need to prove something then, by all means, call the office. I'm sure they'll just say the same thing I said to you."_

Richard followed Nate to his seat and chimed in, fully confident:

_"He's got a point, and think of all the time we're wasting. Don't we have a quiz today? Seems pretty rude to kinda hold off on that. I'm ready to be tested, I'm not sure about you. Look at all these bright, young minds in this class! Do you really want to prevent their free education?"_

The class giggles at Richard's statement. She looked with ostensible disapproval, but, nonetheless, allowed them to go to their seats without a phone call. As Richard's eyes glistened with win, Nate casually returned to his seat. Alex, with his jaw dropped, eyes wide, poked & prodded Richard the entire period for his foolishness. After class, the school day was finally over, and Richard, Nate, and Alex, returned to the commons to talk once more. As they spoke a large throng of people started running toward a specific area of the school. This, almost always and on any circumstance or situation, meant there was a fight either about to happen, or in the process. Nate, Alex, and Richard typically paid no mind to the daft squabbles, but it seems as though something took a turn for the worst as a horrifying scream was heard. It was of severe contrast to whatever shrieks you may commonly hear as a result of play or laughter. It was a scream of anguish & pain.

Frightened, Nate quickly attempted to run over and see if anyone was severely hurt or in need of assistance. Accompanied by Alex and Richard, they manage to squirm through the crowd of people to the epicenter of the conflict. A tall & brooding individual was looming over a smaller boy. The boy couldn't have been older than 14, but the individual was much taller and older. He was cowering in fear, littered with bruises and a bloody cuts. Nate wanted to do something, but there was an eerie ambiance. The taller individual was veiled in a shroud of darkness... Nate managed to muster something:

_"H-hey! Whattya d-doin' man?"_

Contorting in a terrifying manner, he cocked his head toward Nate without moving his body. A large grin was revealed when he turned his head. Chuckling, he turned around and slowly made his way toward Nate. His sick twisting of his limbs as he did so made him seem horribly off balance and as if he could topple if pushed. People in the crowd would sometimes say: _"Oh shit..."_ or _"That's fucking disgusting!"_ The creepy individual took his time with each clumsy step. Eventually, the crowd got restless and someone pushed Nate closer to the individual. Seizing the opportunity the dark persona clenched Nate's left forearm in his stumble and held him up in the air. It seemed to examine Nate, sniffing him. After the careful examination, Nate was scared when the entity clasped his shirt. Reacting almost instantaneously was Nate's right fist punching the figure. Going along with the punch, it began laughing hysterically. Throwing Nate down he laughed heartily. Time seemed to stop as soon as Nate hit the ground.

Nate, disoriented by the throw, got up slowly. Alex and Richard ran to his side. Tending to him, the figure seemed suddenly distraught. It turned fixed its gaze onto Alex and went to strike when Richard, just in the knick of time, knocked him out of the way. Enraged, the individual dashed at Richard in an attempt to punch Richard. A large blue shield appeared for a split second and deflected the force. Although the force still sent Richard back a few feet, he was still on his toes. Alex, just now realizing what had occurred, pushed the entity back, and stood in front of Nate in a protective stance. Nate, who had finally gotten up, put his hand on Alex's shoulder and muttered: _"Thanks, bro..."_

Richard ran over towards them to give them much needed assistance. The figure, once more, laughed hysterically. It's mouth opened and gave the entity a hideously jagged Glasgow smile. It bellowed in a deep voice:

**"Your daft resistance shall be met with an even greater opposition! I can only imagine how delicious your hearts will be once I've ripped them out of your chests... One. By. One."**

The sinister entity didn't even resemble a human anymore, but a horribly disfigured monster. Seemingly licking its jagged lips with a long snake-like tongue, it lifted its foot into the air and slammed it down. Pools of darkness began surrounding the trio, and, from the pools, arose dark clones of the disfigured entity. They all said in one menacing echo:

**"Need you even try to resist? *sigh* Nay, it ssssseems like you boys will need some much needed rest... Look at how beat up you are! Oh my, don't worry, I'll be there to counsel you... and your palatable hearts. Accept your fate!"**

The trio huddled together horrified. Each figure began bubbling and oozing a viscous and dark solution, and they formed tentacles. Each copy lifted their tendrils and showered them in the thick dark fluid. The force knocked Richard off his feet and was soon engulfed. The force of the showers pushed Alex onto his knee and was shortly engulfed too. Nate, the strongest of the three, was able to withstand the tar-like fluid, and watch in horror as his friends were encompassed in the black slime. Angry he looked at the original monster and tried his hardest to make his way toward him. It laughed as Nate made his seemingly vain attempt to reach him. The figure simply stood there, taunting him. Nate managed to grope his neck lightly before being fully swallowed by the fluid. Casually walking out of his light grasp, the clones merged back with the original.

**"Now, DIE!"**

****A ray of light stabbed through the darkness and blinded the aggressor. After a slight rumble the tar cover was blown off by one large pulse of light. Alex, Richard, and Nate released from their temporary prison and were gasping for air. Richard was still on the floor coughing and while Nate tended to him, Alex stood up and gazed at their foe. Alex helped Richard sit up and allowed him to catch his breath. Bewildered, the entity was intrigued by this sudden explosion of light. Why weren't his foes dead? Why wasn't he feasting on their delicious hearts? A thousand questions ran through his head, and it infuriated him. Furious, the entity created hundreds of small balls that floated in space. Temporarily ignoring the being Alex turned to face Richard and Nate. They all silently agreed that something had to be done, but what? If Nate was, allegedly, the strongest, why didn't his punch do anything? They each pondered on that same thought as they each faced their foe. Each finally erect and ready for anything, they braced themselves. What interested them were the balls... What kind of trick could this be?

The entity had a noticeable scowl, the smile no longer remained. At that moment there was an immense explosion. It was revealed to them what the balls finally did. They were remote explosives! Alas, by the time they made their discovery, they were surrounded by the precarious spheres... Alex, with a scowl on his face, whispered:

_"This is it."_

A seldom phrase. Nothing more had to be said, and there were no objections from the others. Richard thought hard about it and muttered:

_"Well damn... *sigh* Screw it."_

A big concentration of smoke appeared in the gap between the trio and the entity. At that moment a cloaked figure appeared. Both the trio and the entity were astonished!

Who was this enigmatic individual standing in front of them? More importantly, who was the entity that attacked them to begin with?

* * *

Was this to be end of their young lives? Ended prematurely by some unknown force? Well, I don't know, read the next iteration for the answer.

Hope you enjoyed it, thank-you.


End file.
